Page 25 - Southern Oregon Magazine Fall 2022

AWARDS
A WA R D S

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
ROGUE CREAMERY’S DAVID GREMMELS

ogue Creamery’s President David
RGremmels, president and visionary behind
such acclaimed cheeses as the 2019/20 World
Champion cheese, Rogue River Blue, has been
recognized at the highest level of artisan makers
in the country with the American Cheese Society
(ACS) Lifetime Achievement Award. Gremmels’ contributions to the
cheese industry have been celebrated nationally and around the world,
and Rogue Creamery is known across the artisan cheese industry for its
award-winning cheeses and commitment to sustainability.

In 2005, he petitioned ACS to introduce the award. The first honoree
was his mentor, Ignazio “Ig” Vella, now remembered as, “The Godfather
of Artisanal Cheese.” Seventeen years later, Gremmels has been inducted
into his mentor’s esteemed company.

In his more than three decades promoting cheese and 20-year career
at the helm of Rogue Creamery, Gremmels has led many initiatives for
his company and the cheese industry, domestically and abroad. He has
served as President and Chair of ACS, helped launch the American Cheese
Education Foundation (ACEF), founded the Oregon Cheese Guild, and
created the now nationally-recognized Oregon Cheese Festival. He was
essential in facilitating the first export of raw milk, USA-made cheese
to Europe, and made history when Rogue Creamery’s Rogue River
Blue was honored as the World Champion Cheese at the World Cheese
Awards, the first and only American cheese ever to earn this accolade.
Rogue Creamery has received other awards and honors.

It was said of him at the award ceremony: “David has given of himself and
his time over the years in so many ways and is emblematic of the kind
of people that make our cheese community so special. Leaders who can
raise others around them…are the ones who have the most far-reaching
impact. David is one of those special people.”

Under Gremmels’ leadership, Rogue Creamery has become a leader
in sustainability in the cheese industry. Earlier this year, Oregon Business
Spend the Holidays
Magazine ranked the cheesemaker number one on their annual list of Spend the Holidays
Best Green Workplaces in Oregon.
with Fences!
with Fences!
“I am humbled, honored and inspired by this recognition. I have not
only found my community, extended family and friends through the
American Cheese Society, but my life’s work,” he says. “I am grateful to
ents and priv
ate ev
ate tastings b
y appointment
riv
P
Rogue Creamery’s team and the cheesemakers and mongers, buyers, Private events and private tastings by appointment
brokers, and representatives that share our progressive story each day.”
www.roguecreamery.com
rogue valley • o r | 541.690.8303
rogue valley • or | 541.690.8303
fenceswinery.com
fenceswinery.com

9/16/22 2:29 PM
9/16/22 2:29 PM
Tall Ad - Holiday 2022.indd 1
Tall Ad - Holiday 2022.indd 1 fall 2022 | www.southernoregonmagazine.com 23